diff --git a/.github/workflows/release-docker.yaml b/.github/workflows/release-docker.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..634372151bc
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/release-docker.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+---
+name: Build and push release Docker images
+
+on:
+  release:
+    types: [published]
+
+permissions: read-all
+
+env:
+  PLATFORMS: linux/amd64,linux/arm64,linux/ppc64le,linux/s390x
+
+jobs:
+  build-and-push:
+    name: Build and push Docker images
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout code
+        uses: actions/checkout@11bd71901bbe5b1630ceea73d27597364c9af683 # v4.2.2
+
+      - name: Set up Go
+        uses: actions/setup-go@d35c59abb061a4a6fb18e82ac0862c26744d6ab5 # v5.5.0
+        with:
+          go-version-file: .go-version
+
+      - name: Set up QEMU
+        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@29109295f81e9208d7d86ff1c6c12d2833863392 # v3.6.0
+
+      - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+        uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@b5ca514318bd6ebac0fb2aedd5d36ec1b5c232a2 # v3.10.0
+        with:
+          driver-opts: image=moby/buildkit:v0.31.2
+
+      - name: Login to GCR
+        uses: docker/login-action@74a5d142397b4f367a81961eba4e8cd7edddf772 # v3.4.0
+        with:
+          registry: gcr.io
+          username: _json_key
+          password: ${{ secrets.GCR_SERVICE_ACCOUNT_KEY }}
+
+      - name: Login to Quay
+        uses: docker/login-action@74a5d142397b4f367a81961eba4e8cd7edddf772 # v3.4.0
+        with:
+          registry: quay.io
+          username: ${{ secrets.QUAY_USERNAME }}
+          password: ${{ secrets.QUAY_PASSWORD }}
+
+      - name: Download release binaries
+        env:
+          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+          RELEASE: ${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}
+        run: |
+          mkdir -p release
+          for platform in $(echo "${PLATFORMS}" | tr ',' ' '); do
+            arch="${platform#linux/}"
+            tarball="etcd-${RELEASE}-linux-${arch}.tar.gz"
+            echo "Downloading ${tarball}..."
+            gh release download "${RELEASE}" --pattern "${tarball}" --dir release
+            tar -C release -zxf "release/${tarball}"
+          done
+
+      - name: Build and push Docker images
+        run: |
+          docker buildx build \
+            --build-arg="VERSION=${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}" \
+            --build-arg="BUILDDIR=release" \
+            --platform="${PLATFORMS}" \
+            --sbom=false --provenance=false \
+            --push \
+            -t "gcr.io/etcd-development/etcd:${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}" \
+            -t "quay.io/coreos/etcd:${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}" \
+            .
+
+      - name: Verify manifest type
+        run: |
+          IMAGE="gcr.io/etcd-development/etcd:${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}"
+          MEDIA_TYPE=$(docker manifest inspect "${IMAGE}" | grep -o '"mediaType"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*"[^"]*"' | head -1 | sed 's/.*"mediaType"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*"\([^"]*\)".*/\1/')
+          echo "Manifest type: ${MEDIA_TYPE}"
+          case "${MEDIA_TYPE}" in
+            application/vnd.docker.distribution.manifest.list.v2+json|application/vnd.oci.image.index.v1+json)
+              echo "OK: valid multi-platform manifest"
+              ;;
+            *)
+              echo "::error::Invalid manifest type: ${MEDIA_TYPE}"
+              exit 1
+              ;;
+          esac
+
+      - name: Test Docker images
+        run: |
+          VERSION="${{ github.event.release.tag_name }}"
+          for registry in "gcr.io/etcd-development/etcd" "quay.io/coreos/etcd"; do
+            IMAGE="${registry}:${VERSION}"
+            echo "Testing ${IMAGE}..."
+            docker run --rm "${IMAGE}" etcd --version | grep -q "etcd Version: ${VERSION#v}"
+            docker run --rm "${IMAGE}" etcdctl version | grep -q "etcdctl version: ${VERSION#v}"
+            docker run --rm "${IMAGE}" etcdutl version | grep -q "etcdutl version: ${VERSION#v}"
+            echo "OK: ${IMAGE}"
+          done
diff --git a/scripts/build-docker.sh b/scripts/build-docker.sh
index db99670fbdf..37dc0bfefed 100755
--- a/scripts/build-docker.sh
+++ b/scripts/build-docker.sh
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ else
   docker buildx build --build-arg="VERSION=${VERSION}" \
     --build-arg="BUILDDIR=${BUILDDIR}" \
     --platform="${PLATFORMS}" \
+    --sbom=false --provenance=false \
     --push \
     "${tag_args[@]}" \
     .
diff --git a/scripts/release.sh b/scripts/release.sh
index 0813b4e8d6c..68f5fad2e0d 100755
--- a/scripts/release.sh
+++ b/scripts/release.sh
@@ -48,11 +48,14 @@ help() {
   echo ""
   echo "WARNING: This script does not send announcement emails. This step must be performed manually AFTER running this tool."
   echo ""
+  echo "NOTE: Docker images are built by GitHub Actions (release-docker.yaml) after the release"
+  echo "      is published. Use --local-docker to build Docker images locally instead."
+  echo ""
   echo "  args:"
   echo "    version: version of etcd to release, e.g. 'v3.2.18'"
   echo "  flags:"
   echo "    --in-place: build binaries using current branch."
-  echo "    --no-docker-push: skip docker image pushes."
+  echo "    --local-docker: build and push Docker images locally (not recommended)."
   echo "    --no-gh-release: skip creating the GitHub release using gh."
   echo "    --no-upload: skip gs://etcd binary artifact uploads."
   echo ""
@@ -246,7 +249,7 @@ main() {
     log_callout "Building release..."
 
     if [ "${DRY_RUN}" == "true" ] || [ "${NO_DOCKER_PUSH}" == 1 ]; then
-      log_callout "Skipping docker push. --no-docker-push flag is set."
+      log_callout "Skipping docker build. Docker images will be built by GitHub Actions after release."
       # Explicitly set NO_DOCKER_PUSH to 1, if DRY_RUN is true.
       NO_DOCKER_PUSH=1
     else
@@ -309,20 +312,24 @@ main() {
   ### Release validation
   mkdir -p downloads
 
-  # Check image versions
-  local images=("quay.io/coreos/etcd:${RELEASE_VERSION}" "gcr.io/etcd-development/etcd:${RELEASE_VERSION}")
-  if [ -n "${OCI_REGISTRY:-}" ]; then
-    images=("${OCI_REGISTRY}/${OCI_PATH:-etcd}:${RELEASE_VERSION}")
-  fi
-
-  for IMAGE in "${images[@]}"; do
-    # shellcheck disable=SC2155
-    local image_version=$(docker run --rm "${IMAGE}" etcd --version | grep "etcd Version" | awk -F: '{print $2}' | tr -d '[:space:]')
-    if [ "${image_version}" != "${VERSION}" ]; then
-      log_error "Check failed: etcd --version output for ${IMAGE} is incorrect: ${image_version}"
-      exit 1
+  # Check image versions (skip if Docker images are built by CI)
+  if [ "${NO_DOCKER_PUSH}" == 0 ]; then
+    local images=("quay.io/coreos/etcd:${RELEASE_VERSION}" "gcr.io/etcd-development/etcd:${RELEASE_VERSION}")
+    if [ -n "${OCI_REGISTRY:-}" ]; then
+      images=("${OCI_REGISTRY}/${OCI_PATH:-etcd}:${RELEASE_VERSION}")
     fi
-  done
+
+    for IMAGE in "${images[@]}"; do
+      # shellcheck disable=SC2155
+      local image_version=$(docker run --rm "${IMAGE}" etcd --version | grep "etcd Version" | awk -F: '{print $2}' | tr -d '[:space:]')
+      if [ "${image_version}" != "${VERSION}" ]; then
+        log_error "Check failed: etcd --version output for ${IMAGE} is incorrect: ${image_version}"
+        exit 1
+      fi
+    done
+  else
+    log_callout "Skipping Docker image validation. Images will be validated by GitHub Actions."
+  fi
 
   # Check gsutil binary versions
   # shellcheck disable=SC2155
@@ -411,7 +418,7 @@ main() {
 
 POSITIONAL=()
 NO_UPLOAD=0
-NO_DOCKER_PUSH=0
+NO_DOCKER_PUSH=1
 IN_PLACE=0
 NO_GH_RELEASE=0
 
@@ -430,6 +437,10 @@ while test $# -gt 0; do
             NO_UPLOAD=1
             shift
             ;;
+          --local-docker)
+            NO_DOCKER_PUSH=0
+            shift
+            ;;
           --no-docker-push)
             NO_DOCKER_PUSH=1
             shift
diff --git a/scripts/test.sh b/scripts/test.sh
index 88c64acd3f0..6ae7ab7f113 100755
--- a/scripts/test.sh
+++ b/scripts/test.sh
@@ -584,7 +584,6 @@ EOF
   fi
 
   DRY_RUN=true run "${ETCD_ROOT_DIR}/scripts/release.sh" --no-upload --no-docker-push --no-gh-release --in-place "${VERSION}"
-  VERSION="${VERSION}" run "${ETCD_ROOT_DIR}/scripts/test_images.sh"
 }
 
 function mod_tidy_pass {
diff --git a/scripts/test_images.sh b/scripts/test_images.sh
index 17b9865ac92..475feeea1d0 100755
--- a/scripts/test_images.sh
+++ b/scripts/test_images.sh
@@ -92,6 +92,25 @@ function put_get_check {
   fi
 }
 
+# Verify that the image has a consistent manifest type (multi-platform list/index).
+function verify_manifest_type {
+  local image=$1
+  local media_type
+
+  media_type=$(docker manifest inspect "${image}" 2>/dev/null | grep -o '"mediaType"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*"[^"]*"' | head -1 | sed 's/.*"mediaType"[[:space:]]*:[[:space:]]*"\([^"]*\)".*/\1/')
+
+  case "${media_type}" in
+    application/vnd.docker.distribution.manifest.list.v2+json|application/vnd.oci.image.index.v1+json)
+      log_success "Manifest type for ${image}: ${media_type}"
+      ;;
+    *)
+      log_error "Error: Invalid manifest type for ${image}: ${media_type}"
+      log_error "Expected application/vnd.docker.distribution.manifest.list.v2+json or application/vnd.oci.image.index.v1+json"
+      exit 1
+      ;;
+  esac
+}
+
 function main {
   local version="$1"
   local repository=${REPOSITORY:-"gcr.io/etcd-development/etcd"}
@@ -104,6 +123,9 @@ function main {
     exit 1
   fi
 
+  log_callout "Verifying manifest type."
+  verify_manifest_type "${image}"
+
   log_callout "Running version check."
   run_version_check "${image}" "${version}" "/usr/local/bin/etcd" "--version"
   run_version_check "${image}" "${version}" "/usr/local/bin/etcdctl" "version"